Lunchboxes Books

As a health-conscious omnivore, I was looking for a book to help me get past the sandwich-rut in my lunch box. I don't have kids, but I can attest that my husband and I love the recipes in this book, and I feel even better about my health with these vegan recipes. Even if you're not vegan, you're sure to get great ideas.

This is exactly the book to get for any vegan who brings a lunch to school or work. The meals are geared towards young children and the book is geared towards their parents, but the content is suitable for any vegan who makes sack lunches and is tired of PB&J all the time.

They need to make two more books:
1. The Vegan Children's Cookbook - the easy stuff that kids can prepare themselves
2. The Vegan Worker - more adult sack lunch and picnic foods

Vegan Lunch Box really doesn't need yet another stellar review, but it's getting one anyway! This book is full of more than great recipes, it is full of great complete meals, each one balanced and fulfilling. I have only had a chance to try a few of the meals so far, but I don't think I could be without this book now. Everything I have tried tastes great and is easy to make. Now all I need is one of those bento boxes or stackable stainless steel things and I'm set! Thanks so much to Jennifer and her family for publishing this wonderful book.

Having looked at the blog at [...]a number of times, or should I say drooled over the blog, I finally purchased the book. I have to say this is an amazing book with fantastic recipes, photos, ideas, tips and hints that are great for kids and adults. I can't wait to fill my new lunchbox with some of these vegan goodies!!!

This book has made me excited about packing a lunch! All the recipes look delicious and I can't wait to try them all out! Jennifer McCann has done such a wonderful job of showing that vegan meals (specifically lunches) can be diverse, healthy and fun! No one has to feel deprived when eating from home after reading this book!

No doubt, buy it! The imaginative and cheerful illustrations make the book come to life!!!! Colorful, enticing, full of energy, Mr. Thomas captures the essence of what excites kids! I'd like to see more from him.

Conceptually - great! In a time when we hardly think about what we put in ourselves for nourishment - this book really connects us to taking the time and thought to create something special while spending time with one another learning. What a great perspective to give children about the world they live in.

Highly recommend.

I am a 2nd grade teacher in Harlem and my class loves reading and playing with this book. They had this to share:
"I liked the Mexico page because it is like the Domican Rebublic, where I am from!"
"I like the South Africa page because it teaches me new words."
"I like when the Jamacian boy says, Hey Mon!"
"I like the Jamacian page because I eat the same food."
"I like the fried plantains."
"I like the Brazil page because I really like rice and beans."
"I like this book because it is something good to know."
"I like it because it has alot of people."
"The book is fun to read."
"I like the book because I would like to make rice and beans."
"I like this book because I like to make recipes."

Get your kids Everybody Eats Lunch and they'll be inspired to cook and try new foods. They'll love following along with the international characters in the book (Nelly from Jamaica is my fav). Standout recipes for me are the Bunny Chow from South Africa and Rice Balls from Japan. Bonus points--besides boasting great flavor, the recipes are healthy!

My kids and I love Everybody Eats Lunch. We talk about what kids eat on each page and it opens up so many different conversations about other peoples' lives. It's also helped us try new foods as the recipes are easy to follow and there is an appeal to trying something from the book. I find my kids comparing the clocks on the different pages and the children's names. The map with the tabs for locating each child is an added bonus. When we try a new food we talk about how far away that child lives from where we live.

Two nights ago I made the pickles and rice balls with smoked salmon. I even brought the ingredients to the office and made my own version for lunch yesterday. Since then we've been searching for more Japanese foods we can make and I've started to visit a local Asian market. It turns out my kids also love bean cakes.

I've also made several of the Mexican dishes. After not being able to find Dulce de Leche at Whole Foods, I ventured into a Mexican market and found many new foods for my family to try. We also enjoyed the Rusks from South Africa and have added several of the fruits.

Everybody Eats Lunch is the first children's cookbook that has entertained my kids and introduced me to adult foods I want to eat. It's our new favorite gift and I look forward to future books by the author.

I bought this book for my niece and nephew, 5 & 3 years old,and they loved it. zach thinks its great fun to play with the removable pieces while zoe loves to help make the new foods from all over the world. they both love to simply carry the book around the house, the design is so cute! i tell everyone to buy this cook book, its a great "first cook book" to give a child. go out and get it!!

I believe that Dead Fred, Flying Lunchboxes and the Good Luck Circle is one of finest childrens books ever written. The love that Frank McKinney has poured into this book is incredible! It is exciting and fun for kids as well as adults! I would highly recommend Frank's masterpiece Dead Fred! Buy one for your family and another for someone you really care about! Bill Harbison - www.twitter.com/billharbison

Frank is able to tug at the heart strings of both the young and the old with a God given story telling gift...This helps us all pursue and expand our love for our children....and for charity projects like the Caring House that Frank works so hard for. Cant wait for Part 2...i am sure your daughter is egging you on as well :)
Thanks for bringing out the kid in all of us .... excellent and fun read !

Frank McKinney is an excellent speaker and author. I met him in person at a presentation in Rocky Hill CT. His expertise and "life balance" make his book very informative. Thumbs up for what Frank does for charity as well!

For those that don't know him, Frank McKinney is best known as the Real Estate Rock Star. My understanding is that this book came out of his love for his daughter, and the "give back" project of his heart, "The Caring House Project", where he builds villages in the most impoverished places in the world. These newest books are written to help fund that foundation. He's written several non-fiction books, both on real estate and spiritual calling. This is a great first novel. Even as an adult it kept me interested, and wanting to turn the page, but without all the typical violence of today. Yet reading level easy enough for grade-schoolers. Good morals about being true to yourself and loyal to those you care about. And did I sense a coming sequel, there at the end?!?!?!?!?!?

I had a wonderful time reading this along with my 10yr old Johanna. We
made it even more fun by making different voices to go along with the
characters. Johanna didn't want to stop reading and was dissapointed to
have to wait until the next night to continue. To hear her yell with joy
when Fred came back to life was really a joy to me and I think it tells a
story about life in general for children (and adults) about the challenges we all face in everyday life. From interacting with each other in the family, to making new freinds, overcoming adversity, triumphs and the fact that there are always new challenges (megalodons) down the road.
Outside of that, we just had a great time reading a very enjoyable story with each other.

Randy and Johanna Grant

Want to be involved in your child's day when you're separated by work and school schedules? Then pick up Love Notes in Lunchboxes for myriad ideas on keeping in touch with your child . . . not just emotionally but spiritually. This book teaches how to affirm your child and always be part of his life.

I like the helpful pages in the back giving templates in different shapes, sizes and designs. With these, you can trace or photocopy, cut out, and personalize "love notes" for your own child.

If you have young children who are not yet in school, try reading The Birth to Five Book: Confident Childrearing Right from the Start.

I really like this book and have been communicating with my daughter through her lunchbox for the past three months. After the first note, my daughter came home and said that all of her friends were jealous :-) She now looks forward to notes. I don't put notes in every day (just to keep her guessing). The other reviews tell you what is in the book, so I won't waste time rehashing. I just want to testify that the notes have brought my daughter and I closer together.

What a neat book! In Love Notes, Gilden offers enough lunchbox ideas to keep moms sending notes throughout their child's school years. She includes creative lists, games, coupons, recipes--even reproducible templates for notes. In addition, she gives moms suggestions on other times to send notes (camp, college, etc) and includes fun lunchbox trivia in each chapter. Throughout the book, kids who received notes in their lunches weigh in on the benefits they received.

Love Notes in Lunch Boxes, sub-titled "...and other ideas to color your child's day" is bound to lighten your `chore' in making and packing a lunch for the kids. Not to mention the fun the kids will have when they find little notes tucked in between the apple and the peanut-butter and jelly sandwich.

The book has 169 pages of all kinds of tips, hints, tid-bits, stories and vignettes that will bring a smile as you read.

For example, Chapter Two deals with Special Days - birthdays, holidays, silly days, like After a Hard Homework Day. Gilden mentions that 5th grade at their elementary school is a dreaded year. It is a year of transition for the children, with so much to learn, and the homework piles up. So, this little section gives some nice suggestions for inclusion into the lunch box, and a little note example that reads:
"Wish I could have been more help with your math homework last night. We didn't learn it that way in the good old days. Be sure to ask your teacher for a little extra help if you still need it. Remember 1+1+1+1= (Dad+Mom+Sis+you) = our family and it's the perfect answer!"

That's just one small taste of all that is offered. There is another chapter in which the author mentions "Colorful Love Notes and Lunchboxes" For a "Red Lunch" pack the lunchbox with a pizza slice with tomato sauce; radishes; a red Delicious Apple and red licorice stick. An "Orange Lunch" would include a sandwich with American cheese, carrots, cheese curls and orange slices.

The last pages of the book contain templates in different shapes, sizes and designs you can trace or photocopy, cut out, and personalize for your own special notes.

All in all, this book has a lot of good stuff. And, when you get right down to it, you don't need to be confined to just kids. Many husbands take lunches to work, too. Imagine the smile on hubby's face when he finds that special little note just for him.

Love Notes in Lunchboxes. Get your copy today and see how much fun you can have with your kids - and hubby!

I wish I had thought of putting love notes in my kids' lunch boxes. I got this book for my daughter so my grandchildren can benefit from it. In fact, I think it's a great book to keep on hand for baby shower gifts. It is packed with ideas about how to make lunches special with notes and other ways to make lunchtime special.

I love this book! The characters are complex and charming, it's funny for kids and adults and best of all, Fields does not "talk down" to kids. He toes that difficult line between making a book accessible and interesting to children and interesting at the same time. I recommend it!

This book balances the fine line between good for kids and good for adults. The author makes the story serious and funny at the same time, with an example of the fact the aliens are running out of food and they have to depend on a fat basset hound who isn't exactly the sharpest tack in the bunch, until he gets turned into a genius that could make Bill Gates look like a dummy except for the fact that he can't talk... The story moves along fluently with Nate, the owner having to help Lunchbox, the dog, build a machine, make the aliens happy, and get his parents to understand what is going on.

Lunchbox is a basset hound who's been stolen by aliens, who change him into a garbage-machine-making machine. His new task is to change Earth's trash into a food adored by aliens and dogs: will Lunchbox and his boy solve the world's garbage crisis in the process of forming interplanetary friendships? A zany tale evolves.

This is a great book! Note to parents: If your kid likes books and spends too much time in front of the TV, get them this book! True, it has weird, made up words, like rurfroo and plookie, but that's why it's a challenging, but interesting book. It's funny and the author had a great sense of what he wanted when he wrote it: a book kids and adults alike will love. Oh, and here is how to pronounce Schwozzwort: Skwoz-wort. Yeah, I know, it's a tough word to spell and pronounce right without the author saying it straight to you, which is why that is there. But anyway, GET THIS BOOK! KIDS AND ADULTS LOVE IT!

This charming book tells how a loveable bassett hound named Lunchbox saves the world from alien interference and helps out his boy's family at the same time. The book alternates between earth and a spaceship with two amusing aliens who remind me of a few people I've known. The author's humor is just right for the age group and his writing has a wry touch that adults will be amused by as well. The author has a great ear for conversation and he also knows what matters to boys and girls. I highly recommend it.

In Get Crafty: 60 Cool Holiday Crafts, Nancy Jo King shows young do-it-yourselfers how to make sixty different holiday craft projects for all the seasonal holidays including Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, and the Fourth of July. Ranging from unique jewelry and ornaments to homemade gift wrap and stationary, the crafts are fun, creative, and easy to make. Whether working individually or as a group project, Get Crafty: 60 Cool Holiday Crafts will offer hours and hours of safe, inexpensive, and creative entertainment.

My four year old loved making a reindeer out of a candy cane and my older daughter enjoys some of the more complex projects. The book is straight forward, with clear directions accompanied by pictures. These projects will keep your kids busy from Valentine's Day through Hannukah and Christmas!

60 Cool Holiday crafts is a terrific resource for parents and kids alike. With easy-to-follow directions and great illustrations, this book is a "must-have" for any parent who loves to engage their child in arts and crafts.

Author Nancy Jo King's artistic and teaching background makes 60 COOL HOLIDAY CRAFTS a marvelous resource for parents, teachers and children. With holiday themes to cover all seasons, each project is carefully detailed with simple, easy to follow instructions and lists of ingredients, including where to find the more unusual items. Whether you are seeking appropriate projects for home or classroom activities, 60 COOL HOLIDAY CRAFTS is certain to have many ideas to inspire young creative minds. Further, while the book suggests a total of 60 projects, additional tips expand many projects beyond their intended season to encompass many others, making this a valuable and flexible resource of crafting ideas. Very highly recommended.

I have what I believe is the orginal book. The Lunch Box Book by Annie Gilbar from 1984. I used many of the recipes in the book and felt it was worth keeping even though my children are grown. I have used some of the recipes for adult eating as well. Nicole's Zucchini Bread is a favorite.
I am now teaching preschool and parents are looking for easy but delicious lunch recipes. I am planning on ordering the lastest version of this book and recommend you do the same. Of course for preSchools or Day Care , know your school's policy with recipes containing nuts.

I am very impressed with this book for the quality and ease of the recipes. These are all your basic ingredients that are easy to find at any grocery store. It's one of those books that is great for a working mother or father who wants to fix something delicious in a short amount of time. Examples of some easy recipes are: Chicken Drummettes with a simple recipe using brown sugar, soy sauce, rice wine, ginger, scallion and chicken drummetts. Next, Mom's Chicken Salad with egg yolks, mustard, raspberry vinegar roquefort cheese, chicken, celer, grapes and peanuts or pumkin seeds---nutritious, delicious, and easy with minimal amounts of clean-up time. GREAT BOOK!!

I checked this book out of the library and just loved it. It offers lots of interesting recipe ideas such as cinnamon-potato pancakes, home-made fortune cookies, tiny egg bowls, and cheese & fruitwich. A month of menu ideas is given along with international themed menus. The international menus are very cute and include American, Greek, Swiss, Hawaiian, French, Middle East, Mexican, Indian, and Italian Day. There are also lots of helpful and inspirational ideas for making a lunch box more creative for elementary aged children.

Does your child bring their lunch box home with half-eaten, picked-at food? Do the items sent to school end up on the "trade table" in exchange for "more desirable" items? Do your kids roll their eyes at the menu for their lunch box that day? Then this is the book for you! Authors Meredith Brokaw (wife of Tom Brokaw), Annie Gilbar and Jill Weber pack this delightful book full of over 100 tempting and nutritious recipes sure to make your child the want to actually keep and eat their lunch, and look forward to the fun, tasty, nutritious treats inside. These recipes are not difficult to make; nor do they require obscure ingredients--but they do add a touch of creativity and a lot of love. This book is full of terrific ideas!

This book is about agirl named Elizabeth.She has a teacher named Mr.Jenkines and it is Halloween morning at school on Mr.Jenkines desk they find a Teddy bear hamster in a black witches cape,but who left it there that is the question? Read There`s a Hamster in my Lunchbox to find out.

I thought this book was funny and the characters were cute (especially Squeaks the hamster.) I would recommend this book if you like mysteries. And if you like animas and humor.

I would give this book a newbery award if I could

This book is realy great and exciting. My favorite part was when Squeaks the hamster had baies. It was funny when ran away with her babies in last weeks spelling test. At the end Elizabeth teacher gave her one of the babies. Her little sister learned a lesson not to play with the hamster.

I especially liked the part where they found the hamster eating candy corn out of Elizabeth's lunchbox. I enjoyed how clever Squeaks (the hamster) was and all the mischief she got into.

My daughter loves getting these in her lunchbox. She and her friends work together to solve them. They are a great product!

These tear outs are perfect to add to lunch boxes. My daughter(7 yrs. old) loves the jokes and puzzles. She and her friends try to solve them together. I like that she is exercising her brain and having fun at the same time.

My daughter LOVES these puzzles. I've been putting them in her lunch (not every day) since first grade and she thinks they are great. I plan to use the few remaining puzzles this year, now that she is in third grade, and I'm buying another book to use for her 5yo sister. These puzzles are easy to use--just tear out and write a little note on them. Each page has a puzzle on the front (e.g., a rebus, or a cartoon that depicts a word or phrase in a funny way), and a puzzle hint + trivia fact on the back. After school, I ask my daughter if she figured out that day's puzzle. If she didn't, we can figure it out together. She had trouble with some of them when she was 6, but when she was 7 she figured out almost all of them.

I also bought Library Lunch stories & they were a bit too advanced, and Hugs in a Lunchbox which were good but often religious & not funny. Clever Lunchbox Puzzles were my daughter's favorite.

Why don't more companies make these tear-out books for lunchboxes? I'd buy more if I could find more.

My 9 yr. old grandaughter Loved this group of stories. I bought another one to send to my 7 yr old and I'm sure she will be very pleased. I wish they had written more of these because it's a fantastic idea.

My daughter loved these books, I wish there were more since we've gone through both in the series. Everyday I'd pack her lunch, a pencil and one page from this book where there's a spot on the back of the page for a special note for you to write. I'm a single parent with a fulltime job but I did find the time to pack lunch with one of these pages - other mothers started coming to me wondering where I got the book since their children would play along with my duagher at lunch. Highly recommended!

This is an excellent way to get the kids reading, thinking and having fun at lunch. The Lunchbox Library "Six Wild Adventures" was really a better concept, with a storyline to follow and a daily installment including a synopsis of the story to date. The 9 Puzzle-Mysteries sometimes require the use of a pencil, which makes it not as suitable for "lunchboxes". Nevertheless, both volumes of Lunchbox Libraries are wonderful, the kids love them (and their classmates get in on the action). I only wish they would continue the series - we've been through both books and would love some more. This mom gives the books a high recommendation and thinks they are perfect for the younger crowd, too (ages 7 and 8).